My friend Emily is moving from Madison, Wisconsin to NYC in mid-July for law school at CUNY. She is most likely bringing two friends along for the move whom she will be living with, though I do not think that either of them are going back to school there-- just getting out of Wisconsin and enjoying life in a major city and working day jobs

She is looking for suggestions on places to rent where it's not obscenely expensive but also not completely unsafe/inconvenient. She was considering Astoria, Queens, as CUNY law school is in the Flushing section of Queens.

Do you kind people have any suggestions for her? She will of course be taking out student loans to pay for this but she has to find something that also appeases her fellow roommates' financial capabilities. I'm not sure whether or not they are looking at a 2-bedroom or 3-bedroom apartment, but I'll assume a small 3-bedroom is likely the case.

Also, if for some reason any of you know of someone looking for three roommates in July-ish or someone abandoning a cool apartment around that time, please let me know. I know that Emily knows a few people in NYC but everyone knows that the PRF with its wealth of knowledgeable inhabitants is the best problem-solving device available.

Thanks!

tell her to run a credit report on herself, to check her credit history, so she can fix any fuckups now.

anybody that has jobs, who she is going to live with on the lease, tell them to get letters from their prospective employers about the job and the salary.

your friend should have lots of cash on hand, and access to credit.

if nobody has jobs, and you friend the law student, they should talk with their parents, because landlords are going to want co-signers on the lease, or at least guarantors.

NYC apartment hunting is a blood sport, it is no joke. Good places go within hours. Shitty places go within days. Someone new to town might want to go through a broker. They charge a fee, usually equal to 10% of the yearly rent.

Astoria's great, but getting from Astoria to Queens College could be a pain in the ass if she's not going to have a car here, which she shouldn't. She'd have to do a strange transfer to get out there.

I would check out Sunnyside or Woodside. It would be a little more convenient to get to the school, and those are both nice neighborhoods, three to four stops away from Manhattan.

EDIT: the post above is correct, there's no fucking around when looking for a place. If she likes a place that's in her budget, pull out the checkbook immediately. Or better yet, pull out the cash immediately. Any credit goofiness is sometimes overlooked when the potential tenant pulls the deposit, first and last out of their pocket.

vockins wrote:Astoria's great, but getting from Astoria to Queens College could be a pain in the ass if she's not going to have a car here, which she shouldn't. She'd have to do a strange transfer to get out there.

Unfortunately this is true.

I love living in Astoria (been here 12 years) but getting to QC when I have to go there is lke the fucking Bataan Death March. Even borrowing someone's bike doesn't make it any better.

The school is in Flushing, and Flushing's not a bad place to live. It's a predominantly Asian neighborhood (this is an understatement) but I bet living there would be cheaper than Astoria/LIC and the food would be awesome.

Jackson Heights might also be a place for her to check out, but there' lots of pretty terrible apartments mixed into the really good ones, so she'd have to be careful. Jackson Heights is also a major transit hub, pretty much every subway stops there.

She should keep her mind on going to Law School, ditch the friends who want to move with her. Stay in the Dorms where she could be closer to the library classes and fellow law students. If you are in a intensive program and your roomates are on a different page it is is just a unessessary distraction.

Her friends can move to NYC any time they want they want.

She is adding too many people to her escape lifeboat it will probibly capsize.

Once she is out of law school she can then locate a apartment if she can find a job or pass the bar if she is in the top 10% of her class who are the ones who find work as lawyers.

I don't think there are any dorms at CUNY Law.

I just googled it and the school wants to build a dorm and people are protesting it (it has no graduate dorm) because they are tying to bring in folks from outside Queens.

It does say that the 7 train is near the school. I don't know how great a train it is (only took it to Queens MOMA and Mets games). I do go to Flusing Meadows a bit and Corona is on the 7 as is the swingline stapler area and that seemed kind of nice too.

Big John wrote:She should keep her mind on going to Law School, ditch the friends who want to move with her. Stay in the Dorms where she could be closer to the library classes and fellow law students. If you are in a intensive program and your roomates are on a different page it is is just a unessessary distraction.

maybe so, but when I was in law school, I rode my bicycle from Somerville to Boston every day, and did not live with law students, or pal around with law students. They drove me batty. I studied at home or at school during the day (when I studied - admittedly not every day) and I had my band, and the associated bullshit/fun that goes with that.

If I had to live with law students, eat with law students, drink with law students and relax with law students I would have taken out BU Law school with a bag full of shotguns. Law students can be incredibly annoying.

Dumbass punk rock musician types are much more fun.

the$inmusicisallmine wrote:If I had to live with law students, eat with law students, drink with law students and relax with law students I would have taken out BU Law school with a bag full of shotguns. Law students can be incredibly annoying.

I can imagine.

Dammit, lemur.